To boldly go
by Helicotrema
Summary: Jane has a short fuse; especially when watching Maura dance with a stranger...
1. Chapter 1

**To boldly go** (where no woman has gone before - sorry I just couldn't help myself...)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, blah blah TNT blah blah Paramount blah blah

Here's my new story. Hope you like it!

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Being in an awfully chirpy mood that day, Jane had a spring in her step while heading towards the morgue. She was greeted with a true image of loveliness in front of the elevator doors and took her time to appreciate the delectable doctor's shapely calves without being observed.

"Well, whom do we have here? If it isn't _Madame_ Doctor!"

"First of all, it's _Mademoiselle_ Doctor to you. And why are you in such a cheerful mood today?" Maura responded, slightly irritated by her friend's unnatural joviality.

Completely ignoring Maura's statement and quietly humming to herself, Jane simply sashayed into the elevator after the doors had swooshed open.

Maura eyed her suspiciously.

As the doors closed, she finally answered. "Actually, I was just on my way down...".

"So I gathered"

"...down to see you. I wanted to ask if you felt like going to Crowe's birthday party later at the Robber before our weekly movie night..." Jane patiently responded, absolutely refusing to get ruffled.

Maura wrinkled her nose at Jane's suggestion. "I don't know... Somehow, I don't feel like going out tonight, Jane."

"Please?"

"No..." Maura whined.

"Pleeeease, Maura? Pretty please with sugar on top?"

The elevator doors opened again and Maura was thankful that she could momentarily evade answering Jane as Frost came in, a huge group of academy students in tow. The elevator was jam-packed and in order to make room for everyone, Maura had to change her position slightly, so that she was standing right in front of Jane. By the time every student had squeezed in, Maura's rear was firmly pressed into Jane, while Jane was being sandwiched between Maura and the back wall of the elevator.

"Gee Frost, what is that? Open house being held in the elevator?" Jane asked, slightly irritated.

"Yeah, something like that Rizzoli..." Frost answered not even trying to hide his amusement over the predicament Jane and Maura were in.

Maura struggled to find a safe stance, but finally gave up, settling for leaning back into Jane. She decided her weight on Jane felt comforting, maybe even secure, so why bother?

Jane sighed inwardly, there was no denying the fact that Maura was close, so very close. Jane could smell Maura's light perfume in the stale air of the elevator, she became extremely aware of Maura's butt pressing into her groin and Maura's back pressing into her chest. Maura's whole body was warmth Jane needed and ached for. However, she could have sworn that Maura leaned into her more than was absolutely necessary under the circumstances, but quickly decided she didn't mind. At all.

Wrapping one arm around Maura's waist, pulling her even closer to herself, Jane could hear Maura's sharp intake of breath as she gently began stroking Maura's flat stomach, her fingers running up and down Maura's dress. She continued tenderly caressing Maura while whispering into her ear "Do you think this is what Korsak has in mind when he says you and me have a close relationship?"

Both women burst out laughing, which earned them a stern look from Frost.

The doors opened and the women finally made it to the morgue, still giggling.

"Jane, you should be glad it was me - and not Korsak!" Maura said, grinning adorably.

"Believe me, I am! I would have shot Korsak if he had pressed into me like that!"

The giggles won over them again.

Maura was the first to regain control, whereas Jane laughed even harder, tears forming in her eyes. Maura had forgotten how stunning Jane was when she laughed. The sparkle in her eyes, the captivating sound of her laughter in the air, the way Jane's lips spread into that beautifully breathtaking smile, her lips...

Jane's laughter stopped instantly when she noticed Maura's eyes focusing on her. Clearing her throat nervously, she desperately tried to think of something else than Maura's staring at her lips.

Her olfactory sense provided her with the answer.

"Yuck, Maura. What's that smell in here?"

"Jane, as you full well know, it's the formaldehyde. You should have gotten used to it by now, considering how often you're down here with me." Maura replied, thankful for the diversion.

"Nah, it's nauseating, Maur."

"You get used to it. I actually kind of like it. In a weird sense, I guess..."

"Oh Lord, now you're becoming delirious, Maura. We've got to get you out of here as soon as possible... As the party's still on, I'd say I'll meet you at the Dirty Robber in an hour... Great, it's settled then, looking forward to it!" Jane rattled on, spun on her heel and left the morgue without giving Maura a chance to argue.

With the benefit of hindsight, The Dirty Robber wasn't the best place to be that evening...

The fairly small bar was bursting at the seams due to a Star Trek Convention being held a few blocks away. So basically, the Robber was a melting pot of police officers, alien life forms with pretty disastrous make-ups and guys wearing rather unbecoming Starfleet uniforms.

Upon arriving, Jane couldn't believe her eyes. She spotted Maura in a far corner, evidently having a ball with Korsak, Frost and some other guys from the precinct, downing Tequila shots. She made her way over to them and took a seat, much to her dismay not beside Maura.

"Really Korsak? Seriously? Has it come to this?" Jane remarked snidely.

"Shut up and have a drink, Rizzoli! Or two. Even better three. We're way ahead of you..."

Plenty of shots of Tequila and beers later, they were all having a blast. The buffet was delicious, the music captivating, the banter joyous and the drinks cold.

Every now and then a particularly handsome Trekkie in a red uniform would glance over to them, giving his best attention to Maura while flirting blatantly with her. After a while, Frost had his coming-out, explaining to them that he had been an ardent Trekkie when he was younger and that the guy eyeing Maura supposedly was a Commander due to three rank pins on his collar. Needless to say he was a fan of Geordi LaForge...

Even though she was reluctant to attend the party in the first place, it turned out Maura was indeed having a field day that evening. That is, until she asked Jane to dance.

"Excuse me, Maura?" Jane exclaimed incredulously. "Jane Rizzoli doesn't dance, I repeat DOES NOT dance!"

"Fine, if you won't, I'll find somebody who will." Turning to the guys she added sweetly "What about you gentlemen, anyone care to dance with me?"

Everyone was suddenly deeply engrossed in conversation, so Maura took the not so subtle hint, stood up and looked Jane straight in the eyes, giving her one last chance to change her mind. "Nope, not drunk enough to dance, Maura."

Maura shrugged. "Well Jane, you've had your chance. And you gentlemen, are boring. With a capital B!" Maura spat and headed straight for the dashing Commander, pulling him to the dance floor.

"I didn't know our tipsy doctor could be so sassy..." Korsak stated, watching the retreating form of the ME.

"Tipsy, Korsak? More like she has three sheets in the wind..." Frost added.

"Maybe, but I don't care as long she wears those hugging dresses, displaying her fantastic cleavage..." Frankie Rizzoli chimed in.

Everyone expected Jane to launch a verbal attack against her brother for his comment, but much to their surprise she kept quiet, instead watching Maura closely, her eyes narrowed as she thought about how Maura held the power over her to ruin her mood in an instant. Flashes of anger, despair and jealousy hit her intermittently as she watched her beloved ME dance closely with that nerd.

"Frankie..." Korsak tried to chastise Frankie as Jane was obviously failing to do so.

"No, Korsak, you know what? Don't chastise my little brother, ok? If Dr. Isles is publicly displaying this kind of cleavage in an area of town where it can either get you arrested or hired, it's not Frankie's fault." Jane spat out, surprising Korsak with the venom in her voice.

The other officers had a good laugh at Jane's utterance.

Growing slightly irritated, Korsak retorted "Jane, I don't see what's wrong with that. Why shouldn't Dr. Isles display enough cleavage to attract a male?"

"A male or a hungry infant..." Jane countered which led to further bursts of laughter from the guys.

"Jane" Frost admonished her.

"Yeah, I know. Shouldn't have said that." Jane slumped down and glanced at Maura again. She felt broken-hearted, even if she had no right to. But her jealousy was eating away at her and she had no idea how to cope with her emotions. As far as Jane was concerned, Maura's body was off-limits to anyone but herself. It became painfully clear to her that Maura didn't share her opinion on this topic. Jane often thought about covering Maura up in the yellow ,police line - do not cross' tape. Maura's body was forbidden territory and that nerd had crossed it. Jane felt the anger burning up in her. Anger directed at the guy who was groping Maura, anger at Maura for allowing him to do so and anger at herself for not being able to control her jealousy.

At that precise moment the upbeat music changed to something slow, resulting in a cheek to cheek dance. The freak (as Jane „lovingly" called him) let his hands wander around Maura's back, while Maura had the audacity to put her arms around his neck. He even squeezed Maura's butt, but soon his hands returned to caress the small of Maura's back. Jane simply stared at the scene unfolding before her, unable to tear her eyes away even though it broke her heart.

"Janie, do you want another drink?" Korsak asked upon realising Jane's inner turmoil. She was lost in thought.

"Jane?"

"Mothership to Rizzoli!" Korsak tried again. "Sir, it appears she's out of sensor range..." Frost chimed in, both men sharing a hearty laugh.

Just then the Commander leaned in to kiss Maura's neck.

"It seems the Commander has begun the docking process..." Frost choked out.

At that sight, Jane jumped up from her seat and stormed towards the exit, bumping unceremoniously against Maura's arm on her way out.

"Hey lady, watch it" Maura's dance partner yelled.

Jane spun around. "Why don't you just back off, Urkel?"

"Jane, what's wrong? Why are you so upset?" Maura rested her hand comfortingly on Jane's arm. "Leaving already? What about our movie night later?"

All attempts to calm Jane down were in vain as she shook Maura's hand off and hissed "I don't have time to wait for you to lose one of your glass slippers, Cinderella!"

With that, she left Maura dumbfounded and stormed out.

At warp speed.

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Thank you for reading this. What do you think? One-shot?


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything.

Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews! You surely know how to pamper my ego... It's been overwhelming for me to get so much feedback. So I figured I'd „_better take my keyboard to warp speed 10 and bang out another chapter ASAP_" (thank you JellyBelly!). Please note the ,M' rating. Hope you like it!

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Maura gazed at Jane's retreating form, seemingly confused by the detective's actions. She made a formal apology to her dancing partner before leaving him in order to join her fellow co-workers. Maybe they knew something. After all, it wouldn't have been the first time one of their jokes had caused Jane to freak out... Completely oblivious to the fact that it actually was her undoing, she made her way over.

"Ah, Doc, where's your Jedi knight?" Frankie asked upon seeing her.

"Wrong fandom, Rizzoli!" Frost and Korsak yelled in unison, mocking the utterly embarrassed Frankie Rizzoli and enjoying it tremendously.

For her part, Maura was lost. First of all, she had no clue what Frankie was talking about, although it was fairly obvious he was wrong anyway. Secondly, she was still in the dark as to what led to Jane's inglorious departure.

Pursing her lips and knitting her brows, Maura decided she had to take matters into her own hands. "Would you care to explain why Jane..."

"...left orbit?" Frost interrupted her.

"No, why she left like that?" Maura asked peevishly, rolling her eyes at the incessant Star Trek related jibber jabber.

"She had too much Klingon blood wine..." Frankie whispered, dearly hoping he had picked the correct fandom this time.

If looks could kill, Frankie would have been vaporised by Maura. "No, doc, it wasn't me" Frankie stated, looking like the epitome of innocence.

"Well, someone has obviously offended Jane mortally. And I want to know who it was!" Maura began to feel a latent anger rise inside of her.

"Doc, take a seat and I'll fill you in, ok?" Maura did as she was told and kept looking at Korsak expectantly. "Well?"

"Ahem" Korsak cleared his throat melodramatically, "Uhh, actually... well, actually Jane left because of you." Korsak stammered.

"ME?" Maura's voice cracked. "What do you mean? I wasn't even there. I was dancing..."

"...the dance with no pants?" Frost commented smugly.

"Barry, what is it with you and your cutting me off mid-sentence?" Maura's irritation grew. "We were just dancing. Aren't I allowed to have some fun?"

"Of course you are, Doc" Korsak tried to appease her. "It's just that it might have looked at bit... provocative, that's all." This was clearly uncomfortable. Being ,blessed' with social myopia, Maura inquired "Provocative? I don't understand."

"Listen Doc, you should talk to Jane. Maybe she can clarify this for you." Korsak gave up, though somehow finding Maura's naiveté endearing.

"You're right, I should talk to Jane when I get home." Maura stood up and grabbed her purse, her face still showing signs of confusion. "Could someone please give me a ride? I've had way too much of that Romulan ale..."

.

Less than a mile, but nevertheless light-years away Jane sat in her car, running the whole gamut of emotion. She didn't know why or how she had come to end up in Maura's driveway, but there she was, being crippled by her emotions.

Startled by the sound of the 'Funeral March', she took out her phone and rejected Maura's call. Again and again, as Maura tried to call her numerous times.

Silently berating herself, Jane wondered for the umpteenth time why she had come to Maura's house instead of just going to her apartment. What if Maura came home with that guy? That prospect scared the living daylights out of her.

Sitting in her car outside Maura's house while her mind was furnishing images of the woman she loved in the arms of that geek, was torture. Agonising, excruciating torture. She might as well shoot herself, she was pretty sure that would have been less painful. Wait..., she did shoot herself and knew for a fact it was less painful.

The car ride over to Maura's had been silent. Korsak had tried to lighten up the mood several times, only to have his efforts nipped in the bud by Maura, who was deep in thought. She was slowly coming to terms with the fact that she indeed might have gone a little too far with the Commander due to her alcohol-induced state. Hell, she didn't even know his name and to some extent, she didn't even care. She was deeply ashamed of her behaviour.

In her defence, ever since that memorable elevator ride earlier that day, she had been longing for affection. After all, it wasn't her fault Jane had that kind of effect on her.

When they came up to her house, Korsak spotted Jane's car. "Isn't that Janie over there?" he asked, motioning towards Jane's car. "I'll pick you up tomorrow morning, so that we can get your car before work, what do you think?"

Maura simply nodded. But before she could get out of the car, Korsak put a hand on her forearm, clearly sympathising with Maura. "Doc, you know I only want what's best for you both, right? Maybe all Jane needs is a hypospray to the heart from you?"

"Thanks, Vince" Maura answered politely, though the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Oh, and Doc? Maybe you should set your phaser to stun... After all, Jane seemed pretty pissed."

Seeing Maura exiting Korsak's car alone took a load off Jane's mind, the relief she felt was overwhelming. She couldn't quite shake off her anger towards Maura though, even if Maura hadn't purposely tried to make her jealous. Rubbing her face in her hands, Jane took a deep breath and got out of her car. "Well, here goes nothing."

Maura met her halfway. "I've been trying to call you, Jane. Why didn't you pick up your phone?" Maura asked neutrally, but Jane didn't fail to notice the considerable accusation in her tone. "Would you like to come in and tell me why you're so upset? I was worried about you..."

"Oh, how very touching of you, Maura." Jane retorted harshly. "I'm fine, fucking perfect actually! And believe me, my world doesn't solely revolve around you."

"That was uncalled for Jane." Maura answered dejectedly, being utterly nonplussed over her friend's reaction. "What are you doing here then?"

Jane's despondent eyes which met Maura's only for a second or two stood in strong contrast to her callous voice. "I need the files of the Hudson case." '_Clever one, Rizzoli! Seeing how quick-witted I am, maybe I should head for stand-up comedy...' _Jane thought, kicking herself mentally.

"Really, Jane, really?" Maura exclaimed, exactly mimicking Jane's trademark tone. "Now?" Jane's volatility never ceased to amaze Maura. "Yes, now. Is that a problem?" Jane answered, slightly annoyed.

Finally unlocking the door and entering her house, Maura bade Jane in.

"Fine, I'll go and get it. But for your information, I'm sorry, Jane." Jane tried to cut her off. "Don't. Maura, just don't." Of course, Maura continued anyway. "I'm not even quite sure what I did to hurt you so deeply, but I didn't mean to offend you in any way. I was merely looking for some physical contact." Maura continued meekly. _'And maybe you should have kept your hands to yourself earlier, detective!'_

Jane was close on Maura's heels, following her into her dimly lit living room where Maura went to retrieve the file from her desk. In order to reach the file, she had to bend over slightly. The sight of Maura's delicious backside outlined by her clinging dress was more than Jane could stand. Swiftly, she moved behind Maura, encircling one arm around her waist as the other went down to caress Maura's thigh. Maura whimpered softly as she felt Jane's body pressed against hers, just like hours ago.

Moving Maura's hair aside with her nose, Jane placed a soft kiss on Maura's exposed neck while pressing herself harder against Maura's enticingly firm behind.

"Does that bother you?" Maura heard Jane's deep, resonant voice whispering in her ear while one of Jane's hands was slowly sliding up Maura's body to caress her breast. The other hand still held her tightly pressed against Jane.

Maura's throat went dry and she tried in vain to moisten her lips so that she could say something, say anything. Instead, Maura just shook her head no.

"That's what I thought... And what about that? Does that bother you?" Jane asked hoarsely, keeping her voice low. She simply let her hand slide down towards Maura's knee which caused Maura to release the breath that had been stuck in her throat. Maura was about to at least croak 'no' when she felt Jane's hand slide back up her thigh, her skirt rising with it.

Maura was paralysed by the sensation of feeling Jane's hands on her.

As she tightened her grip on Maura's waist, Jane moaned softly, whispering into Maura's ear. "God, Maura. It's all your fault."

Maura had to force her vocal chords to comply. "What?"

"You make me lose control, Maura." Jane finished her confession with a flicker of her fingers against the moist silk of Maura's prohibitively expensive 'La Perla' panties.

The case file went sailing to the ground.

One hand gently cupped Maura's breast whereas the other hand rubbed freely between Maura's legs, stroking her wetness through the fabric, eliciting the cutest moans from Maura Jane had ever heard.

Biting down on Maura's neck, Jane intensified her efforts and was finally rewarded when she heard a low guttural moan and felt Maura stiffen.

Jane patiently waited for Maura to relax again, while holding Maura tightly against her.

After Maura was sure she could rely on standing on her legs on her own again, she turned in Jane's embrace.

She smiled at Jane "What about the case files?"

"What case?" Jane grinned.

"Hhhm, that's what I thought... You are a spitfire, you know that?" Maura leaned in to kiss Jane, but Jane evaded her efforts. Slightly confused, Maura tried again, only to have her shoulders carefully grabbed by Jane.

"Would you have slept with him?" The vulnerability in Jane's eyes nearly broke Maura's heart.

"I wouldn't even have kissed him."

At least for the moment deciding she didn't want to know why Maura had allowed him to grope her like that, Jane took Maura's face firmly in her hands, finding her mouth and plunging her tongue inside. Jane felt Maura everywhere, her body pressed against hers, her mouth on hers, Maura's hands on her shoulders and she instantly felt her body responding. God, how she needed that woman.

Maura broke the kiss abruptly and began to pull Jane towards her spare bedroom, never letting go of her hand. They ended up in a half-trot, laughing, peeling off their clothes on the way.

Once inside, urgent mouths and hands resumed their fevered exploration. Maura pushed Jane down onto the bed, staring at the beautiful vision before her. Jane's eyes were darkened with lust, following her every move. Maura straddled Jane in no time, touching her nose to Jane's, nudging in closer and finally brushing her lips softly against Jane's. Opening her mouth, Maura lightly kissed Jane's lips, absolutely loving the feeling of Jane's breath mingling with her own.

Jane opened her mouth, kissing Maura deeply, sighing against her as their kiss grew longer and longer.

Maura pulled back, smiling breathlessly at Jane, eventually kissing her way down Jane's torso. On feeling Maura's hand on her leg sliding to the inside of Jane's thigh, Jane sighed in contentment.

Willingly, Jane spread her legs and Maura bent down to kiss the insides of her thighs.

Moaning, Jane closed her eyes and leaned back, feeling Maura's lips and tongue hot and wet against her core in a maddening rhythm. Her hips thrusted involuntarily against Maura's face and Jane reached down, holding Maura's head to her, while forcing herself to open her eyes to watch Maura.

"God, Maura..." Jane felt Maura's smile against her, her eyes rolling back into her head upon feeling Maura's tongue pressing inside her, continually increasing the pressure. Maura's fingers followed suit and Jane pushed down against them, beginning to feel that familiar burning deep inside her.

Maura continued her efforts, revelling in the feel of Jane's internal muscles contracting around her fingers. Jane's breathing was laboured, her gasping turned to whimpering cries, she was lost in her lust, mindless of everything but the movement of Maura's fingers inside of her. Feeling the first twinges of climax racing through her, she was soon bombarded with wave after wave of pleasure.

Jane was still shuddering from residual waves of her orgasm, her body shaking ecstatically as the surges coursed through her when Maura brought herself back up to Jane's lips, kissing her hotly.

"Jane?" Maura asked between kisses.

"Hm?"

"Should we talk about what this means, I mean what we...?"

"Nope." Jane was annoyed. Royally annoyed. That woman sure knew how to ruin the moment.

Jane turned to her side, pulled the covers over them and soon was sound asleep.

.

Later that night, Maura slowly awoke to the most glorious sensations. Half awake and half in dreams, she felt a hot tongue over her clit and slick fingers sliding through her folds.

"Jane..." she moaned.

The tongue was gone, the fingers stopped their task and Maura was wide awake. Looking down between her legs, she smiled sheepishly at Jane.

"Pleasant dreams, Doctor Isles?" Jane asked, raising one eyebrow, enjoying Maura's squirming at being caught far too much. So the good Doctor had indeed actually dreamed about this before...

Quickly regaining her composure, Maura countered "Did I give you permission to stop, Ensign?" Maura was desperate to feel Jane's tongue back on her.

"Ensign?"

"Well, I don't see any rank pins on your collar..."

"Maura, I'm not wearing a collar!" Jane's voice cracked.

"Sophistry. Now resume your task and you might even get promoted..."

"Aye M'am" Jane saluted and did as she was told.

Soon, Maura was lost in desire again, her breaths coming in ragged pants. Soft sighs and moans escaped her lips as Jane sent her over the edge.

Jane wrapped her arms around her, gathering Maura against her, kissing her passionately before breaking the kiss.

"Maur?"

"Hhm..."

"Why did you do it? And don't give me that immunoglobulin A crap!"

Maura sighed. "Well, I thought he was handsome, maybe even sexy. And I longed for physical contact..." She sounded so fragile that Jane felt the urge to wrap her arms tighter around Maura.

"And why didn't you do it? With him, I mean?"

"Well, technically, it would be quite an intricate situation with you and him both being here..."

"Maura!" Jane slapped her shoulder.

"I guess we were incompatible. He asked me if I'd wear a Lieutenant Uhura uniform for him. And I don't even know what that means!"

"Oh, I'm sure he's a lovely man - to someone else." Jane added, chuckling to herself.

.

The next morning Maura awoke to the sound of someone knocking on her door. Actually, it was more of a thundering banging than knocking. Turning over, she held her head in her hands, internally begging her equilibrium organs to drop dead, feeling awfully sorry for herself as she realised that was not going to happen. Sleep deprivation, headache, hangover. A deadly combination.

Finally dragging herself out of bed and donning yesterday's wrinkled dress, she briefly wondered where Jane was as she made her way to her front door. Opening it, she squinted involuntarily at the bright light.

Taking in Maura's disheveled appearance, Korsak hardly tried to hide his horror. "Why do you always look like you're about to strut down a Paris runway, Dr. Isles?"

"Not funny, Korsak." Maura groaned, shading her eyes against the mercilessly invading sunlight.

"I'll be out in ten minutes." With that she closed the door.

Once inside, Maura started looking for Jane, soon having a sinking feeling when she found no traces of Jane whatsoever. She hoped she would at least find a note from Jane, but she didn't find one. Jane's spare set of clothes had gone, as well as the clothes Maura had torn off of Jane the night before. Jane didn't even leave her toothbrush or what Jane referred to as (but could in fact hardly be called) make-up behind.

Maura felt extremely queasy and realisation dawned on her. „Goodness, was this a one-night stand for Jane?"

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Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think. What about a little hurt/comfort for the next chapter?


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Still don't own anything.

As always, thanks for your wonderful comments!

Sorry for the delay... Finally, here's the last chapter. Hope you like it.

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When Maura had been picked up by Korsak mere minutes ago, she had been crestfallen. However, her initial consternation was quickly replaced by enragement. How on earth could Jane do that to her? Even if Jane in retrospect declared their tryst a mistake, she would at least have expected to be notified about it. But apparently, she wasn't worth the effort.

Even though Maura's car ride over to the precinct didn't take long, twenty minutes were indeed sufficient for the anger she felt towards Jane to fester and grow. So upon entering the lobby at the precinct and spotting Jane promptly, Maura felt sickeningly uncomfortable just by looking at her. 'Show no weakness, Maura, no weakness!' she repeated the litany in her mind in a desperate attempt to control her racing pulse.

Jane was chatting amicably with a fellow officer, two coffees in her hands and Maura mentally cursed her autonomic nervous system for betraying her despite her anger as she immediately felt her heart skip a beat and her mouth go dry. Quickly putting her cool, aloof façade back into place, Maura headed towards her colleagues.

"Good morning, gentlemen." Smiling politely, she looked at everyone briefly as she greeted them. Her smile however turned to a death glare when her eyes came to rest upon Jane, who had turned around to greet her with a beaming smile plastered on her face. Which faded gradually until it was replaced by a confused frown upon seeing Maura's icy glare aimed directly at her.

The sudden chilly atmosphere in the lobby didn't go unnoticed. Frost and Korsak exchanged confused looks, hoping they wouldn't end up in the line of fire between Maura and Jane.

Handing Maura the coffee, Jane tried a tentative "Hi, Maura. I brought you coffee", instantly feeling the uneasiness creeping down her spine, when Maura wordlessly took it from her without acknowledging Jane's efforts at all. She addressed Frost and Korsak instead. "Gentlemen, would you care for breakfast? It's my treat!" She was just getting started.

Maura's cold eyes held Jane's gaze deliberately as she turned around histrionically, walked over to the nearest trash can and dumped the coffee theatrically. Seeing the aghast looks on her colleagues' faces, Maura simply batted her lashes, all the while smiling politely as she addressed Frost and Korsak once again. "Shall we?"

She linked arms with them, proceeding to usher them out. "Doc, um, what about Jane? Isn't she coming with us?" Frost asked cautiosly. He was silenced by Maura's glare and decided he had no intention of knowing what had caused the ire in Maura's eyes.

Struck dumb by Maura's grand entrance, Jane stood rooted to the spot, simply staring at the retreating forms. She could practically feel the sting of Maura's figurative slap in the face on her cheek, but was completely in the dark why the ME would pull such a stunt. Certainly not after a night like that.

Mocking her in front of her colleagues was one thing, but being rebuffed like that by Maura left Jane with a myriad of thoughts running through her mind. Her confusion turned to anger and her anger ultimately turned to something bordering on hate. Towards the one person that meant the world to her.

A hell of a lot to digest before breakfast.

.

Maura certainly wasn't happy about her behaviour towards Jane, but at least she felt some sort of gratification. Apart from that, there was a snag, as Maura had never felt so empty in her life before. Their relationship had gone to hell in a hand-basket because of the previous night, the person she loved the most had treated her like dirt and to top it all, she had the nerve to act as if nothing had occurred at all.

The information that breakfast was on Maura that morning spread like wildfire and so it wasn't exceedingly abnormal that Frankie decided to join them, grabbing a handful of donuts upon entering the diner.

"Morning Doc, have you seen Jane yet?" Frankie asked while sitting down beside Maura, completely oblivious of the turmoil his question evoked.

"Briefly." Maura peered angrily through her lashes, hoping that Frankie would get her warning. This wasn't something she wanted to talk about. Especially not with him.

He inhaled the rest of his donut and continued through a mouthful of food "After her outburst yesterday at the Robber I was prepared for World War 3 today... But then she showed up and she was so happy! Must be hormonal, I guess..."

Maura put down her _new _coffee. "What do you mean, she was happy?" she asked calmly. Her curiosity was piqued, that was for sure.

"Yeah, strange, isn't it? I've never seen her so happy before. She was practically beaming with joy."

"Intriguing indeed..." Maura's voice trailed off. In fact, that particular piece of information was so interesting she forgot about berating Frankie for his disturbing eating habits. _'So Jane is aglow with happiness because she got laid and she didn't even have the spark of decency to leave a note for me?'_ Maura thought indignantly, suddenly not feeling hungry anymore.

.

Maura was grateful for the distraction when they were called to a crime scene a few minutes later. Here, she could concentrate on being the conscientious fact-finder, instead of having her mind occupied with mundane profanities such as one-night stands.

Jane approached her while Maura was conducting the preliminary examination of the body. When Maura felt Jane's sceptical scrutinising eyes on her, she pasted a phony smile on her face an turned towards Jane, intent on keeping her detachment in place this time.

"Why, Dr. Isles," Jane sounded like she was just about to begin a friendly conversation, "Completely without your posse this time? Judging from my experience earlier I thought you were inseparable..." Jane's acerbic remark caused Maura to look up to Jane with her mouth gaping wide open.

"Cause of death?" Jane bellowed.

Given the fact that Maura had just arrived at the crime scene, she was irritated by the evident asininity of Jane's question. "Give me time, Detective. Will you?" Maura was fairly sure she didn't succeed in sounding civil either.

"Well, if the illustrious Dr. Isles can't find a cause of death, then I'm sure there is none!" Jane commented cynically.

Raising slowly from her crouching position, Maura squared her shoulders. "Detective, I'm sure our ,mystery guest' here would appreciate it if you let me concentrate on discovering the cause of his demise! Don't you have some bad guys to catch or are you just intent on preventing me from doing my job?"

So much for professional detachment.

Looking straight into Jane's eyes, Maura could see them darken considerably. She felt something snapping in Jane and flinched involuntarily.

"What the hell? What page are you on, Maura?" Jane hissed, glaring at her. They stood close, their noses nearly touching, their eyes raging with fire and Maura fought an internal battle to just grab Jane and kiss her, but quickly reminded herself that that was what had brought them to this impasse in the first place.

"What were you thinking? Was the 'uber-female' thinking at all?" Jane yelled, not being aware that her yelling was drawing attention.

"Excuse me? The 'uber-female'?" Maura frowned indignantly.

"Yes, Dr. Isles, also known as the 'uber-female' - well-educated, polite, charming, compliant and lovely to look at above all. But obviously not very bright." Jane's voice caustic, the vitriol in it hurting Maura deeply.

Upon hearing Jane's hissing at her, Maura felt a shiver running down her spine. "Tell me, was it a game for you, Maura? Were you just curious what it would be like? Or were you just using me?"

"I beg your pardon?" Maura responded incredulously. Jane had the nerve to accuse her, to act as if it was Maura's fault?

"Oh, you heard me." Jane came even closer to Maura as she threatened her. "There will be repercussions, I can assure you. I won't let you do that to me and let you get away with it scot-free. This isn't over yet, Maura." With that she left Maura and headed for Frost.

Maura watched Jane leaving, completely puzzled. She was quite sure Jane had just made her the culprit responsible for the mess they were in. And she certainly was having none of that!

"Detective Rizzoli, may I have a word with you?" Maura called, her tone clearly signalling she was on the warpath.

"Not now, I have some bad guys to catch..." Jane called over her shoulder as she was about to enter the house adjacent to the crime scene with Frost. Maura swept towards Jane, reached for her arm and yanked Jane around violently, praying that Frost would get the broad hint and leave them alone.

Still not letting go of her arm, Maura hissed "If you don't want me to cause a scene here, you'll listen to me!"

"Let go of me!" Maura had never heard Jane's voice sound so menacing before, but she stood her ground, staring Jane straight into her eyes.

"First of all, your accusations are preposterous, not to mention slanderous!"

Jane merely raised her brows dismissively.

"And being the astute observer you certainly are, Detective Rizzoli, you might have noticed our co-workers seem to be rather interested in our dispute. So I suggest you meet me in the morgue after we're done here."

"Fine." Jane said in a dull tone that implied nothing fine at all, shrugging off Maura's hand fiercely.

"Fine."

"I'll be counting the minutes" Jane's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

.

Some time later, Jane breezed into the morgue and came to stand in front of Maura's desk, arms folded, a judgemental smirk on her face. "Time to face the music!"

Maura sat at her desk and took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for the upcoming confrontation. "How dare you accusing me of being responsible for this? How dare you, Jane? That borders on insolence! Apparently I was sorely mistaken about you."

Jane's eyes flew wide open for a second.

"You act like it's me who's done something wrong!" Maura yelled, an emerald fire raging in her normally pristine hazel eyes.

Jane's tone was sharp, sarcastic. "Right, my mistake! How could I forget that Dr. Isles is above and beyond reproach? Oh, and let me amend my earlier statement about you by saying that I was obviously wrong. In your case the term 'uber-female' doubtlessly stands for pompous, big-headed, presumptuous and petulant."

Completely stunned by Jane's tirade, Maura gasped for air. Jane's sable eyes were sparkling with rage as she continued. "Or were you just looking for a good fuck?"

Maura's throat seemed closed tightly, but she managed to mumble a disbelieving, "What are you insinuating, Jane?"

"What? Isn't the expression ,to be fucked' part of your common parlance, Maura? Maybe I should label it 'need for physical release', as you so aptly put it yesterday?"

Maura's temper was rising, but she battled to control it. She had known this wouldn't be easy, but Jane was doing her best to make it downright difficult. And insulting.

"Was it just a means to an end, Maura?" Jane continued reproachfully. "If I didn't know it better, I'd say you had that planned in order to get laid... With me being the surrogate 'cause that freak wouldn't do you!"

"Out of bounds, Jane!" Maura's voice thundered through the morgue. "That's an out and out lie and you know it!"

Maura's chest was heaving, her teeth were clenched. She was getting angrier and angrier by the second. She took a controlling breath, hoping it would calm her down. "That's it, Jane. Just leave, will you. This was a mistake" she said, pointing at Jane.

On seeing Maura's finger pointing at her, Jane was on Maura in a flash, ungently taking hold of Maura's wrist, thereby lifting her bodily out of her chair. Maura made a furious attempt at removing her wrist from Jane's grasp, but Jane just locked on more tightly, giving her arm a firm tug, thus propelling Maura into her. She wrapped one arm around Maura's waist while the other still grasped Maura's wrist forcefully. Maura struggled against Jane vehemently, her eyes flashing fire at her.

"Enough!" Jane's voice sent a frisson through Maura, making her shudder. "Tell me, what exactly was a mistake, Maura?" Jane asked, looking at Maura, the challenge in her eyes more than evident.

"I thought we had a remarkable, wonderful, mind-blowing night! Dammit Jane!" Being finally sent over the edge, Maura lost all sense of propriety.

There was a twinkle in Jane's eyes as she dealt her trump card. "Well, romantic and silver-tongued, too. I hate to rain on your parade, Maura, but our night together was..., how shall I put his... beyond mediocre... You shouldn't judge every woman by your own inadequacies, Dr. Isles." Jane sneered at Maura and grasped her wrist even tighter.

"What do you mean, 'mediocre'? I gave you the best friggin orgasms of your life!" Maura nearly shouted, poking Jane in the chest, her fury climbing to a crescendo.

Snickering, Jane intensified her grasp on Maura's wrist, watching Maura flinch. "I feel a slightly inflated ego blowing in from the East..."

"You're going to feel my Louboutin blowing in from the South if you don't let go of me right now!" Maura glared at her and tried to pull away from Jane. Instead of letting her go, Jane's other hand went behind Maura's head, holding it forcefully. Their bodies were pushed together, their chests heaving angrily in perfect synchronisation.

Staring into Maura's wrathful eyes, Jane couldn't help herself. She pushed her lips against Maura's, completely devoid of passion. Maura responded to her harsh kiss, fuelled by her anger. They bit and nipped at each other without tenderness in their touches, their kiss intensifying, but still no passion, only fury.

After a short while, Maura shoved Jane away from her furiously, glaring at her with venom.

"Well done, Jane. Well done!

Simply staring at her, Jane stood rooted to the spot as Maura made her way over to the door, grabbing her purse and her coat an the way.

"I don't want to rehash this any more, in any form, Detective. Do I make myself clear?" Maura stated firmly.

"And what pray tell does that mean, Doctor?" Jane asked with the merest hint of scepticism in her voice.

"It means, we're done, Detective."

"What do you mean? We're done _here_?"

"No, Jane. It means WE are done." Maura's voice was filled with bitterness.

A slight panic crept into Jane's voice. "What? You can't be serious, Maura! Because of one fight? You can't just walk out on what we had like that."

"_Had_ being the operative word, Jane."

"Maura, you can't..." Jane was desperate by now, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Watch me!"

.

Jane was still in the morgue an hour after Maura had walked out on her. She had sat down at Maura's desk, mindlessly staring at Maura's screensaver. She was back to square one, left with a stoic look of loss and resignation on her face.

"How could this happen?" she reiterated quietly, asking herself again and again how the most wonderful night of her life could inadvertently turn into this nightmare.

It seemed like an eternity since she had kissed Maura goodbye that morning...

_Jane woke up up to the most beautiful sight: Maura in her arms, stark naked, illuminated by the rising sun. The perfect moment was ruined though by one look at Maura's clock. The night before, Korsak had announced he'd pick up Maura in the morning and Jane felt no desire whatsoever to meet him. Of course, Korsak was well aware of their sleepovers, but Jane wasn't particularly keen on him finding out she had spent the night at Maura's, obviously with Maura. Not after he had witnessed her becoming one of the Furies the night before at the Dirty Robber._

_Jane tried to wake Maura up by gently kissing her, she even tried to nudge her, but the only reaction she got was a soft lovely snore. Another glance at the clock and Jane got up, hurriedly picking up her clothes from all over the room. She uttered a few choice invectives upon realising in horror that Maura had ripped her blouse to shreds as she had tried to get her out of it as quickly as possible the night before. Her pants were also ruined, as she had soaked them through. For once, Jane was happy she had a spare set of her clothes at Maura's. Dressing rapidly en route to the bathroom, Jane winced as she looked at her reflection in the mirror, quickly deciding she'd be needing make-up to look presentable. A lot of make-up. In fact, probably enough to spackle Maura's driveway. _

_Time was running out so Jane made up her mind to tend to her needs at the precinct, grabbing her toothbrush and make-up, leaving Maura's house in a hurry. She would get Maura's favourite coffee on the way and wait for her beloved doctor at the precinct._

_Grinning foolishly, Jane had realised she was head over heels in love with Maura and couldn't wait to see and more importantly kiss Maura again._

_

* * *

_Thanks for reading! What do you think? Hope you like it, even though it's not a happy ending.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Sadly, I still don't own anything.

Thank you so much for your fabulous reviews! Dutifully, I gave in to the peer pressure and came up with a final chapter. Thanks to knightofangst for bringing Angela into the play… Hope you like it!

* * *

"Jane Rizzoli, why the hell don't you pick up your phone when your mother calls?" Angela thundered, storming into Jane's living room. Closing the door, Jane rolled her eyes and groaned, "Good to see you too, Ma." Seeing several bottles of schnaps and various plates of Thai food laid out on the couch table, Angela smirked at Jane, "Hungry or suicidal?"

Plopping down on her couch again to devour her food, Jane smiled drily, "Very funny. What do you want, Ma?"

Sitting down as well, Angela answered sarcastically, "Well if a certain someone would have picked up her phone... Anyway, I just wanted to remind you that you cannot miss our family dinner on Sunday. Uncle Luca and Aunt Sophia will be there."

"Yay! Wouldn't miss it for the world! Especially not since gatherings with them always end up with me being humiliated in front of everyone." Jane answered with a lopsided grin, digging into her food.

"That's not true!" Angela countered defensively. "Care to tell your mother what you're doing?"

Savouring the remnants of one of her Thai dishes, Jane answered through a mouthful of food, "Oh Ma, it's a little habit I picked up, I call it eating."

Angela just shook her head in consternation, muttering something incomprehensible about strict upbringing and missed opportunities. "Has anyone ever told you that you're incredibly stubborn?"

"You say that as if that's a bad thing, Ma. And FYI, I call it determined, not stubborn."

"Jane..." Angela admonished her. "What's going on here?"

"Well, ,Nosy Rosy', if you must know..." Jane sighed. "Maura and me had a difference of opinion about..., uh, some things" Jane stuttered, all of a sudden realising she didn't want her mother to know the whole truth about the turn their relationship had taken. After all, that subject was quite touchy. "It was rather hideous."

"Jane Rizzoli! And so you decided to drown your sorrows in alcohol?"

"Yeah, and guess what Ma! It works! You want some?" Jane asked her mother, handing her the bottle while she downed her previously refilled shot, making a face as the burning liquid etched down her oesophagus. "Man, that stuff is appalling. You really should try it, Ma."

On hearing Maura's name, Angela's features had softened considerably, _'Matters of the heart...'_ she thought sympathetically and she decided not to rise to the bait. "Oh honey, I'm sure the two of you will work this out. But you know, desperation is a stinky cologne..."

"Ma! Maura's to blame for this, I don't even know why she flipped out. All I know is that she's insidious! She's managed to pervade every facet of my life, Ma! And I miss her terribly. I miss her so much," Jane nearly sobbed on the last sentence. And finished off one of her egg rolls.

Jane was finally honest with herself about her feelings for Maura and Maura decided to play coquette. Being rejected like that left Jane beside herself with rage.

"Ma, she's shown a blatant disregard for our friendship, for my feelings! I'm SO angry. And I miss her so much, Ma!" Jane confessed, covering her face with her hands.

"Sweetie, I'm sure everything will be fine once things have cooled off."

"Why am I even discussing this with you?" Jane groaned. "You don't get it, do you? It's pretty unlikely things will get back to normal between Maura and me, full stop! Because I am Jane Rizzoli, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Just run. And that's what Maura did, Ma."

Taking Jane's hand into hers, Angela answered compassionately "Janie, do you know that I've always thought one day Maura would be my daughter-in-law?"

"Ma, I don't know how to break this kind of thing gently to you... But I think Frankie is not the Rizzoli Maura's after..." Jane said, patting her mother's hand patronisingly. "God, at least I hope he's not," she muttered under her breath.

"Sweetie, do you think I've been living under a rock? I know what's going on!"

"What do you mean? Maura and I are just friends." That sounded lame, even to Jane's ears.

"Yak, yak, yak! Jane, don't lie to your mother. I know what Maura means to you " Angela said, laughing at Jane's shocked expression. "I've told you before, I'd be really good at solving cases! You know, a little common sense..." Angela trailed off.

"Yeah, it's like having Columbo right here in my living room..." Jane commented, finishing off another egg roll.

"I'm serious Ma, I don't know if we can save our relationsh..., friendship, whatever. I don't know if she likes me like that..."

"You're kidding, right? Have you seen the look on Maura's face when you show up? Both of you can't stop grinning, it's off-putting!" Angela's attempt at humour had the desired effect as Jane smiled. A small, sad smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"Then she must have realised that she's way out of my league, Ma. I mean, look at her and then look at me!"

"Oh honey, sure, you could use some lipstick now and then, but since when do you care how you look?"

"I don't know Ma, I think it must have started when I came down from the bell tower and had my hump fixed!" Jane answered dryly. "Excuse me, but aren't you supposed to help me out here?"

"I'm sorry, Sweetie. That's not what I meant. Do you want the truth or do you want me to lie to you to ease the burden of your self loathing?"

"Lie to me" Jane muttered, obviously crestfallen.

"Pull yourself together, Jane! You tried to do it your way and that was obviously a colossal failure. Now it's my turn. We're gonna get your girl, Jane!"

„We?" Jane's curiosity was piqued.

.

Lately, homicide officers gave Maura a wide berth, going to extraordinary lengths to avoid going down to the morgue. Maura had overheard some officers talking about her being on a rampage and so the morgue was more or less declared to be something similar to the Bermuda Triangle for police officers. They had witnessed Maura's triumphant cabaret act the other day in the lobby and decided that they had no intention of going down to the morgue for ANY reason unless specifically requested to do so.

Truth be told, Maura was glad she wasn't constantly confronted with questioning looks as to why she had turned to stone, why there wasn't even pretence civility between Maura and Jane anymore.

Thinking back to their fight in the morgue, Maura mentally cursed herself again and again for losing her temper. Her initial plan had included to give Jane a piece of her mind, after all she had been the one to leave. Instead, she had defiantly fought with Jane and had stormed out in the end.

Thinking back to the contemptuous recriminations, she feared their relationship might never heal. Though Jane had treated her with barely concealed contempt, Maura was torn between being distraught and missing Jane sadly. How could they inadvertently have ruined everything they had?

Maura's phone brought her back to the present. Her heart sped up when she read the caller ID - 'Rizzoli'. Alas, not the Rizzoli she was hoping for.

Maura was surprised to say the least when she was called by Angela. She was invited to one of their family dinners and Angela made it clear that she wouldn't take no for an answer. In fact, Maura was told that Frank Senior himself insisted on her coming - ever since he had seen Maura at the Dirty Robber with the blowtorch, she was family to him. Deeply moved by the gesture, Maura accepted the invitation without realising she would most certainly have to face Jane there.

Sighing, Maura returned to the latest issue of the 'New England Journal of Medicine'.

.

Jane arrived at her parents' house to find Frankie sitting outside, waiting for her. "Why so glum, chum?" he asked Jane with a wide grin on his face, handing her a beer while she plopped down on the porch next to him. Jane simply shrugged. "Oh, come one, you're not your usual chatty self today... You still haven't talked to Maura, have you?" Frankie noted as he sipped his beer.

"Nope."

"Women!" Frankie answered, shaking his head in disbelief.

Jane turned towards Frankie, a wry smile on her face. "Excuse me?"

"Women! You can't live with them, yet they're everywhere. Right, Janie?" Patting Jane on the shoulder, he added, "Come on, let's get inside. Uncle Luca's been waiting for you."

Upon entering the house and receiving a boisterous Italian greeting from her relatives, Jane spotted the neatly laid dining table and instantly had a queasy feeling.

"Frankie! This feels weird, Ma's up to something... This is just too opulent!" she whispered, gesturing towards the table.

"What do you mean? It's just family dinner. Don't be absurd."

To underline Jane's suspicions, the doorbell rang as if on cue. Upon seeing who it was, Jane hissed towards her brother "And so the plot thickens!"

Answering sarcastically, Frankie gave her a meaningful wink "You're right, it's an ambush!"

As always, Maura was truly an image of loveliness. She greeted everyone cordially, awkwardly stopping in front of Jane, quite evidently not knowing how to greet her. When their eyes met, the tension was almost tangible and Angela briefly wondered if her elaborate ploy would backfire on her.

Maura smiled curtly at Jane, who returned her smile coyly, both of them pretending not to notice the powerful attraction because it was beyond appropriate.

Angela handed out the appetisers in a desperate attempt to cut through the awkward tension. Jane watched out of the corner of her eyes as Maura took a sip and she could see the wetness on Maura's lips. Even though she was so mad at Maura, she was overwhelmed with an urge to haul Maura off and run her tongue along that wetness, to feel Maura's arms once again tighten around her, to press against Maura and grab the back of her head and plunge her tongue...

"Jane! Somebody in there?" Angela snapped her fingers in front of Jane's eyes. "Have a seat, dinner's ready."

.

Despite her initial contemptuous expectations, dinner with 'la famiglia' started off nicely with Uncle Luca telling his favourite story "...and then Janie said to the robber, "Not your pants, the gun!"

Hearty laughs were shared and Maura caught herself observing Jane on more than one occasion. Jane was a ravishing beauty, even if she wasn't aware of it.

Frankie tasted the sauce and beamed at his mother "Mmmm... Ma, if this sauce was a person I'd get naked and make love to it." Frank Senior put down his utensils in disgust and glared at Frankie. "What? It was meant as a compliment! I'm not planning to do it..." Frankie whined in a desperate attempt to defend himself.

"And the world takes a collective sigh of relief!" Jane added, for once enjoying that she wasn't the target.

"Now, that offends me to the core, sis!" Before Jane could retort, she was cut off by her aunt, instantly knowing that the tide had turned.

"Let's talk about you, Jane. It looks like you've lost a little weight, sugar. Is everything alright? You know that Italian men don't like skinny women..."

"I'm fine, Aunt Sophia, I've just been under a lot of stress lately" Jane answered defensively, not-so-subtly glancing at Maura.

"I'm just saying..., at your age when you lose weight your skin just... hangs there, like leaves on a willow."

"I'm really fine, believe me." Jane's annoyance was beginning to surface.

"Well if you say so, but if I were you, I sure wouldn't wave goodbye..."

"Thank you, Aunt Sophia. I... I don't know what to say. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart." Jane answered, trying not to laugh.

Having a tremendous time on Jane's expense, Frankie simply had to chime in. "Do you remember when Janie singed off her eyelashes and eyebrows when she tried to light the gas grill in the backyard?" All of the Rizzolis erupted into laughter at that thought. Well, all of them except for Jane. "Oh Maura, if you could have seen Janie's face after 'the incident'... I almost wet myself every time I looked at her!"

"Great story, Frankie. Hilariously funny too. Perhaps we could end my humiliation there? And return to dinner?" Jane asked tartly, looking chagrined.

"What? I'm just getting into the spirit of things..." Frankie answered defensively, trying to hide his grin.

"Jane Rizzoli, don't you talk to your little brother like that! You know he's all mouth, no trousers!"

"Ma!" Jane and Frankie exclaimed simultaneously, though obviously for different reasons.

"Just like your first boyfriend, Jane... What was his name? Right, Davide!"

"Ma, stop it, will you?" Was that woman ever going to stop embarrassing her? Something snapped in Jane at that thought. "Listen, I have an idea! Why don't you all take turns hitting me with a two-by-four?"

Completely ignoring Jane, Angela continued, "Maura, while I think Jane has excellent taste regarding the choice of her partners nowadays..., that wasn't always the case."

Coming to terms with the fact that it was her fate to be embarrassed by her mother, Jane listened to the inevitable story, her face covered with her hands.

"Davide displayed excellent credentials for a first boyfriend - Frank and me hated him on sight! As you know, light travels faster than sound and that's exactly why he appeared bright until you heard him speak. But our Janie here had begun a rebellion of ornery defiance at that time and so she wouldn't listen to me, her own mother! Of course, her attitude changed the day when he wanted to see Janie's cheerleader sweater from the inside..."

"Tadaaaa, the show's over!" Jane fretted, banging her fist on the table.

"Fine, break your mother's heart. If you need me I'll be out back with the rest of the garbage!"

"Oh Ma, come on, don't be a drama queen. I've had enough of that lately" Jane added, purposely glancing at Maura, who - on purpose - didn't meet her eyes.

"Anyway, I was saying..." Angela tried to continue, but was cut off by Jane who rolled her eyes at the incessant embarrassment and finally jumped up, deciding she had had enough.

"Jane, where do you think you're going?" Angela nagged.

"To get some air." Jane answered, clearly exasperated.

"We got air in here!" Angela snapped in a cantankerous tone.

"I like beer with my air, Ma!" And with that, Jane disappeared into the kitchen.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Sophia was the first to find her voice. "Maura, I understand you're Jane's best friend? Why don't you go after her and see if she's alright? Sophia asked compassionately.

"Um, I was her best friend, but lately things have been exceedingly difficult between us. So I conclude I'm the last person Jane wants to talk to now," Maura answered with a sad look in her eyes that nearly broke Angela's heart.

"Uh, Maura, do you need more sauce?"

"No thank you, I'm good, Angela"

"Oh honey, I think you do" Angela purred, picking up the gravy boat and heading for Maura.

Unfortunately, the gravy boat slipped from her grasp, thereby spilling a huge amount of the Bolognese sauce over Maura's light-coloured dress.

Everyone stared at Maura in shock as they were clearly expecting her to throw a tantrum. "Oh honey, I am so sorry!" Angela gasped, throwing her hands up in horror.

"It's OK. I'm sure the stains can be removed. Really Angela, it's no problem." Maura sounded so calm and decisive, though she was mentally throwing said tantrum.

"Maura, Sweetie, we've got some stain remover in the storage room. Maybe you should try to wash it out?"

Nodding in response, Maura got up and headed for the kitchen.

.

Upon hearing someone enter the kitchen, Jane spun around and hissed "Did you come up with more embarrassing stories about me?"

Realising it was Maura, Jane softened instantly. "Oh, it's you. What's up?" Jane felt the slight hope rising in her that Maura may have come to look for her.

"Apparently, I'm covered in reddish brown stains, though lab-work won't be necessary to confirm the origins..." Maura said, grinning broadly. Suddenly realising she was supposed to be mad at Jane, she continued rather harshly "Your mother told me to find the stain remover."

"Yeah, it's right here" Jane tried to sound casual as she opened the door to the storage room. "By the way, you'll have to excuse Aunt Sophia. She suffered a slight stroke a few years ago which rendered her totally annoying." Jane said, smiling sadly. Before their fight, they would have had a field time backbiting and laughing about the events at dinner. Now they felt awkward in each others presence and it saddened Jane to the core.

"Jane, your chitchat is superfluous, I'm merely here because of the stain remover." Maura countered, her Ice Queen mode back in place.

"Alright, cut me some slack here, Maura! I'm just trying to be nice!"

"Don't bother, Jane. You and me, we're not friends. Not anymore. No one wants to be friends with someone who is - and I quote - 'pompous, big-headed, presumptuous and petulant', so eat your caustic heart out."

"Maura, your hostility is unfair. It's unfair that we're at an impasse. It's unfair that you left us there!" Jane tried reasoning with Maura, hoping that they would keep their tempers under control this time.

With a trenchant tone, Maura answered, "Let's not mince words, Detective! For the record, YOU left me!"

"Like you have room to talk, Maura! I'm a cop, I've got keen instincts. And right now, my instincts are telling me that... I don't know what the hell is going on" Jane's voice rose with every word, until she reminded herself that they were in he parents' kitchen. Hissing and pointing at Maura, she continued, "I'm not finger-pointing, but it's YOUR fault! YOURS not mine!"

"Your reasoning is flawed, my dear! How can it be my fault when you're the one who left me?" Maura retorted, all the while losing her patience.

"YOU were the thespian, Maura. Remember your scene in the lobby?

"ME? What was I supposed to do? You left me Jane. Without so much as a note and thereby making clear that our night together meant nothing to you. So what was I supposed to do? Did you expect me to act as if that one-night stand hadn't happened?"

Jane was completely flabbergasted and stared at Maura, a blank expression on her face. The pieces were slowly falling together in her mind. Her voice barely above a whisper, Jane answered, "It wasn't a one-night stand for me, Maura. How could it be? You mean far too much to me."

"Well, your concern is touching Jane, but actions speak louder than words. And when I woke up to find you and your belongings gone, there was only one possible assumption for your behaviour." Maura's voice was soft, there was no trace left of the bitterness she had felt before.

"Dr. Isles assumes?" Jane's voice was gentle and concerned. She wanted to put her arms around Maura and apologise for hurting her so much. Jane knew she had been a total fruitcake and she knew what she had done and she was truly sorry for it.

Gently taking Maura's hand in hers, Jane tried to make amends. "What if I told you there was a perfectly trivial explanation for my leaving? What if I told you that I didn't think of leaving a note, because my mind was blurred by my happiness? I mean, waking up beside a naked Dr. Isles, it doesn't get any better than that! What if I told you that I couldn't wait to see you again just to find out that Maura Isles obviously considered our night together a mistake?"

Maura blinked a few times at Jane. She broke into a huge grin, "Oh Jane, it's ridiculously simple and simply ridiculous!" Jane's revelation had indeed taken a load off her mind.

"I was angry, hurt. I wanted to strike back and naturally you were the first person that came to mind..." Maura answered with a lopsided grin. "I'm truly sorry for lashing out."

"No, Maura, I am sorry. I didn't think... Which was completely your fault by the way..." Both women broke into a grin. "It was s simple misunderstanding with severe repercussions and I swear to god I'll make it up to you if you let me."

Maura pretended to give some thought to Jane's plea, but was soon distracted when Jane backed her up against the counter oh so slowly. Jane's hand traced down the side of Maura's face, then over her lips as if trying to imagine a smile there. Jane's touch sent Maura's heart racing again, and her eyes locked with Jane's.

"I've missed you so much, Maura.." Jane breathed.

"I've missed you too, you have no idea." Maura whispered, pulling back from Jane's touch.

On noticing Maura's backing away, Jane sadly added "Well, apparently not that much".

Looking very ill at ease, Maura continued "No, really. I missed our gratuitous touching and I missed you most of all, but to be completely honest, I'm scared. You mean so much to me... And if you ever decided to leave me, you'd destroy me. I mean, our first fight was totally blown out of proportion! If you left me, it would destroy me, Jane."

Jane just shook her head, her eyes sparkling at Maura in the unromantic kitchen light.

"We are a hopeless pair, aren't we?" Maura smiled sadly at her.

Leaning in slowly, Jane placed a gentle kiss on Maura's lips. "What was that for?" Maura was too cute when she was confused.

"That was a soft of gesture I was rather hoping would bridge the chasm between us" Jane smiled captivatingly at Maura and leaned in for another kiss, but Maura stopped her with her hand on her chest.

"Jane, there's something I need to tell you..." Maura seemed nervous and Jane couldn't help herself. "You're pregnant?" She was rewarded with a stern look from Maura.

"I applied for a job in San Diego. I gathered it would be the best thing for me to get away from you or this awkward situation respectively."

Jane mustered up her best patronising tone, "Maura, Sweetie, we had a misunderstanding, we made up, now we ought to go home and have hot, steamy and passionate sex!"

Maura whined, "No, Jane. You clearly don't understand. I'm petrified by the power you have over me! I need to go, at least for a while, in order to think clearly about this."

"Well, if that isn't acting out, I don't know what is, Maura! I'd never leave you and you know that. Hell, I don't think I could ever hurt you on purpose..."

"At least for a while, Jane..." Maura was dejected and tried to dodge Jane. After all, there were some nasty stains on her prohibitively expensive dress.

Jane caught her arm and spun Maura around to face her. "You're not going."

"Jane," Maura pleaded.

"Never! You want convincing, I'll give you convincing!". Taking Maura's wrist Jane dragged her none too gently into the storage room and slammed the door shut. Spinning her around, she didn't give Maura time to comprehend what was happening as she forced Maura against the storage racks. Kissing Maura passionately, she began unbuttoning Maura's dress, careful not to smear the stains...

The storage room wasn't the ultimate den of iniquity, but it served to make her position clear to Maura: she wouldn't let her go.

Kneading Maura's breast roughly through her bra and planting urgent kisses on Maura's neck, Jane's other hand travelled up and down Maura's thigh, dangerously close to Maura's core. Upon touching her intimately, Maura let out a loud guttural moan through her panting.

"Keep quiet, Maura, will you? I'll never live this down if Ma catches me with my pants down in here, you know?"

"Speaking of which..." Maura opened her eyes that were clouded with lust, "your pants need to go..." Maura purred seductively, forcing Jane back against the racks and unzipping Jane's pants in record time.

Jane let out a low moan as Maura's hand moved down her body, finally stroking the moist centre in between her legs. Maura continued to rub her, moving her fingers deeper, full entry being blocked only by the fabric of Jane's panties. Maura spoke breathlessly into her ear, "You want me, Jane. I can feel it right here..."

And to emphasise her point, she stroked Jane harder whilst pressing herself against Jane's taut body. Nearly delirious with lust, Jane somehow managed to shove Maura back against the racks. Panting heavily, Jane smiled as she came up to Maura and put her hands against the rack on either side of Maura's head.

Leaning in close, her breath hot against Maura's ear, Jane said in a low, almost menacing voice "I don't know if I made myself clear. But you're not going, I didn't give you permission to leave. I'll never give you permission to leave..."

Jane pressed her body against Maura's, forcing her harder against the racks.

Again, she roughly grabbed Maura's breast, massaging it through her bra, while her mouth came down on the sensitive part of Maura's neck, combining teeth, tongue and lips, devouring the exposed flesh.

"Jane...?"

"Yesssss?" Jane hissed, as Maura pinched her nipple.

"Let's get out of here so you can show me exactly what you meant by saying we should have hot, steamy and passionate sex..." Maura purred before claiming Jane's mouth in a searing kiss.

"Holy moly, Maura!" Jane gasped, breaking the kiss. "Button up your dress and we're outta here!"

"Uh, wait, about San Diego... You made that up, didn't you?"

"Yeah... sort of..." Maura trailed off.

"What? I thought you couldn't lie!"

"I have really thought about going, so technically it wasn't a lie. I merely distorted the truth..." Maura reasoned while buttoning up her dress. "Oh, and Jane? The next time I ask you to dance, just do it. Is that understood?"

"Yes Captain, understood. After all, resistance is futile..." Jane saluted, a beatific smile on her face.

"Could you stop the Star Trek babble now? I'd like to get out of this dress, it's wrinkled and stained and you know how much I hate it when that happens..." Maura whined as they came out of the storage room. They stopped dead in their tracks as they were greeted by Angela, arms folded across her chest, a 'no nonsense' expression on her face.

"Uh, um, Ma, the stain remover isn't in there... We must have run out of it. We better head over to Maura's place..."

Angela came over to them, smiling smugly in victory, hugging Maura.

"Your lipstick's smudged."

Then she turned to Jane, hugging her tightly, "Yours too, Jane!"

* * *

Thanks for reading!


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